Advantage and Disadvantage of Social Media Network for Business

Question: Discuss about theAdvantage and Disadvantage of Social Media Network for Business. Answer: Introduction This research is conducted to analyze the advantage and disadvantage of using social media in the food business in Australia. Social media has played an important role in the success and growth of a company. To stay competitive in the market, it is important for the companies to identify the target customers to expand the business in the social networking sites. In the recent decades, social media is an important concept by which companies are getting opportunities to expand the business by business-to-customer, business-to-business communication, and customer-to customer communication (Weiss, Lurie Macinnis, 2008). The key objective of this analysis is to understand the pros and cons of social media in the business. Social media has provided various opportunities to the food sector to present the products in different communities that may be involved. Social media includes various functions in the form of technology which allows the companies to tag, blog, post and dig etc. There are various social media platforms such as MySpace, Digg, FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus etc. All these platforms are helpful for the businesses like food business in order to provide the information related to the products and services. Social media is now considered as an effective tool for various organizations to market their products and services. Further, it is observed that the social media users are highly motivated with their buying decisions. Along with this, 70% of users are engaged in social media marketing and it has unenthusiastic impact on the marketers also. Despite of advantages, there are some disadvantages involved in social media which need to be addressed effectively (Hill Moran, 2011). While dealing with the social networking platforms in the business of food industry, the companies have to face challenge related to the lack of budget. It is well known that the social networking sites play a crucial role in the business operations as they are able to connect with the people in the operating market. There are some advantages of social media in the business perspective (Forman, Ghose Wiesenfeld, 2008). Social media includes various platforms dealing in the different way and they have various advanced features for the additional fee. Some of the social media sites have features that are free to use. Social media is helpful in making the business effective and strong in the new market. Along with this, social media is helpful in reducing the cost of the business. Social media enables the companies to stay connected with the customers. Companies are also able to provide relevant information to the customers without any kind of restrictions. This is the key advantage over the other forms to stay connected with the customers (Barefoot Szabo, 2010). Apart from this, there are some disadvantages with the social media while using in various businesses. In the social media, there can be issue related to trademark and copyright. Marketers have to deal with the issue of copyright and trademarks and misuse of intellectual property. With the social media, it is difficult to manage some services. There can be issue related to time commitment in the operations. Privacy issues are one of the challenges in the social media. Companies face difficulties in gaining trust of the customers. Project objective Social networking sites are important for achieving the business objectives in the companies. While operating in the food industry, social media is also not completely different. According to recent survey and observations on the various organizations, it is observed that there are 80% of foods businesses executives are agree on the effectiveness on the social media tools. The key aim of the project is to understand the social networking sites and impact of social networking platforms upon the business of the food companies. Along with this, the objective of this study is to identify the positive outcome of the social sites along with the expected disadvantages and challenges the businesses have to face in the business in the Australian food industry. Project scope There are various scopes of this project. While dealing the business in business in food industry in Australia, it is important to understand the social networking techniques. The tools of social media are used for the success and growth of the business as it is the fastest to make people aware about the products and services. In current time, social networking sites have significant impact on daily lives of individuals along with the businesses also. So, in the food business, social media is also playing an important role. The scope of this project is to identify the ways to grow the business. The scope of the project is to use this study in every aspect of the business and promote the brand online in the market (Watson, Leyland, Berthon Zinkham, 2002). Literature review Social media marketing is enhancing the way by which the companies are able to attract the customers easily. Marketing in terms of social media can be defined as the utilization of social media tools to advertise the products and services of the company in the operating market. By making the customers aware about the products, social media is effective platforms for the mass communications (Weinberg, 2009). There are many new tools being developed for the businesses. Social media marketers are effective in the market by using various social networking platforms. There are many social media sites having many different forms and features. Gordhamer (2009) has related the social media marketing with the relationship marketing of the various companies try to maintain market connection with the customers in the market. Social media is effective for the companies to establish the relationships with the customers and enhance the loyalty of the customers for the specific products (Tanuri, 20 10). In current time, customers are very powerful due to the social networking sites as they are able to compare the services and prices of the companies. Jan Khan (2014) started that Social media is an innovative and important tool by which organizations are able to cater very strong relationship with the consumers on the virtual networks (Arthur, Sherman, Appel Moore, 2006). Further, there are many famous sites which are widely used by the customers and companies i.e. Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. These are famous channels which are used by the companies to enhance the brand awareness of the products and make the customers engaged with them. Social media marketing have both advantages and disadvantages while using in the business. Palmer and Lewis (2009) argued that various media channels are facing many issues and challenges in present times and the companies are facing down turn in their profit levels (Fiore, Kim Lee, 2005). So, they are correlating these traditional channels with the social media in the brand management and marketing. Forrester research study (2011) stated that organizations are continuously shifting towards online promotions based on the choice of customers. In current trend, buyers and consumers are more social media enthusiasts and tech savvy. According to Jan Khan (2014), Social media is an inventive and significant tool by which companies are able to cater very strong relationship with the consumers on the virtual networks (Xiang Gretzel, 2010). Research questions/Hypothesis Primary Questions What is the significance and significance of social media networks and tools in the Food industry of Australia? Secondary Questions There are some secondary questions related to this project. Those questions are as follows: How the online platforms are affecting the businesses like food industry? What will be the impact of social media on various markets? How the social media is positively effective on businesses? Research design and Methodology For this research, both the qualitative and quantitative methods are taken. Basically, qualitative research will be considered for the study as this is the common method based on the experimental methods and statements. The Further, experimental statements can be defined as a described report of analysis of the real case rather than focusing on the assumed case. After that, in 1994 Creswell provided an important definition about qualitative method that qualitative research is a type of research that describes the trend by gathering statistical facts that are examined using scientifically based on systems. Qualitative research In the qualitative research, secondary data is also used. The questions will be related to the use of social media and survey will be carefully planned for the research purpose. For survey, the research has been conducted among people in the Australian food industry. The number of the customers for the survey will be 50 including regular customers of food companies. They are selected for the survey because they are the most important part for the expansion of the business. They can be more trustworthy in conditions of research. They are the most important part of the survey because by the clients review, their needs can be identified. Most of the questions have several choices with 5 options and also there are some open questions where answer will be given in their own words by the customers. The questionnaire has been sent on their email addresses. For secondary data, evaluations and study of other authors will be taken. So, the theory will be partially based on the references and strategy of other authors (Gurau, 2008). Quantitative research The quantitative research will be done based on the numeric data and facts related to the growth of the food industry. The result will be based on the values and figures by which the research objectives and result related to use of social media in the food industry will be analyzed. The quantitative research will be helpful to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the companies in the food industry. Quantitative research is helpful in resolving the challenges associated in the business to achieve the goals and objectives. Research limitations The key limitation of this research is that the research is only based on the perspective of the consumers and secondary data analysis of the literature review. Because of less primary data of the food business, this study may not be able to provide quantifiable results related to the effectiveness of social media over the traditional marketing methods in the industry. Time Schedule (Research Plan) Activities Lead Time Time Spend Time Cushion Collecting information 6 days 1st Nov -6th Nov 2 days Organizing Information 3 days 7th Nov 10th Nov 1 day Completing primary information phase 2 days 11th Nov -13th Nov 2 days Conducting survey 5 days 15th Nov 20th Nov 1days Analysis of information 1 day 21st Nov -22nd Nov 1 day Conclude research 2 days 23rd Nov 25th Nov 1day Writing report 1 days 26th Nov 3 days Draft review 1 days 27th Nov 4 days Change Revision of draft 1 day 28th Nov 1 day Review 1 days 29th Nov 1 day Finalizing report 1 day 30th Nov 1 day Submission approval 1 days 1st of Dec 1 day Conclusion Social media is a significant platform by which marketers and advertisers are able to converse with the customers and buyers. In present time, customers are experiencing a new phase of social media. The tools of social media are efficient in developing and creating pictures and videos of the products. Based on the above discussion, it is analyzed that there are both advantages and disadvantages of social media tools while using in the business operations. Numerous corporations are still struggling to discover correct method to use social media. Still, many marketers are not fully aware of risk and challenges associated with social media marketing. So, before using social media in business, companies have to do full study on the social media practices. A company must identify essential values and plans of using social media in the business practices. Main aim of the company must be to encourage, increase loyalty and provide good quality products and services to satisfy the requirement s of the customers. References Arthur, D., Sherman, C., Appel, D. Moore, L. 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